What are Essential Oils?
Essential oils
are fragrant oils that exist in the flowers, leaves, stems,
bark, peel and other parts of plants. Essential oils are
also called volatile oils because they evaporate when
exposed to air. Many different types of plants have an
essential oil. Examples of these are flowers like rose,
gardenia, carnation, and jasmine. Citrus fruits, like
orange, lemon and lime, also have essential oils. Other
plants that have an essential oil are nutmeg, cinnamon,
cloves, and black pepper. Whenever you peel an orange, some
of the
essential oil
in the peel squirts out and this is what you smell as you
are peeling the orange.
About
Essential Oils
Essential oils
are removed from flowers and plants by three basic methods:
steam distillation, expression, and extraction.
Steam
Distillation:
Using this method, the fragrant parts of the plant are put
in a device called a “still.” Steam is allowed to permeate
the plant material. As the steam rises it loosens the
essential oils in the plant parts and carries it to a
separate container. The steam is condensed into water in
this separate container and the essential oils are removed
from it there.
Expression:
This method is used for removing
essential oils
from the peels of citrus fruits like orange, lemon, and
lime. In expression the peels are squeezed, or punctured,
to remove the essential oils.
Extraction:
This
method is used for removing the oils from delicate flowers
such as jasmine, carnation and gardenia. It is also used
for removing the oils from resins such as frankincense and
myrrh. In this method the
essential oils
are removed from the plant or resin by soaking it in fat,
oil, or a chemical solvent. When the solvent has been
removed, the fragrant oil that remains is called an
“absolute.” When the solvent has been removed from a resin,
what remains is called a resinoid.
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